William d



Jim. 6, 1931. w. p. BOST 1,788,230

' WRAPPER REMOVER Filed May IP, 1929 1677/15 27? )fiqsf tilted whenever this appears to be desirable. Both sides of the device are similarly constructed, as shown by Figure 1. For driving the shaft '14, to which the members are keyed,jsuchmembers 15 also providing guid ing supports for *thefruit receiving cylinder,there are provided gears 22, such gears. being in mesh ,with gears .23 gupon a i transverse'shaft24.

an extension horizontal frame member ,25, and a second horizontal extension frame member 26 thereabove, the; two providing support for a vertical frame member. 27 upon which the shaft 24 is journalled.

'- Members 25- and 26 are disposed at an members 12 and 13, respectively, the members 27 :andbraces 28 thereon providing a sup ort for-a hopper29, which hopperisadapte to dischargefruit into the cylinder 'comprising 4 the member-$ 171.18 and 19.;

. jff' 'Hoppe'r 29; is elevated so mouth-is motor which'is coupled to a blower 36,

"the two being mounted upona base 37 disposed upon a f1"ame -38, so that thejpaper left a pair of projecting blunt'points 47 onhorizontal plane coinciding the horizontal {diameter of the said cylinder and may have, {as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, ajdepending lip 30 whereby the; fruit is' discharged into such cylinder fromthe hopper 29 away. from -proxi1'nity withtheinemb'er 17 at the rightrh'a'nd end of thedevice (l3igure2).'. e V.

' Hopper 29,1 in addition to being supported on the bracket28, is also disposed at the top of the members-27,"therebeing an angle bracket-32 providing support and attachment therefor;

Said, shaft 24. is below the hopp r- '29,

and it extends outwardlyterminating'in a sprocket wheel 33 about which a chain 34 is "adapted to move. The prime mover forthe chain 34 is not shown, but it may be a motor with a sprocket thereon, or any other suitable driving mechanism "Adjacent the mouth20 ofthe device'isa which drops out of thejmouth '2 Oc oncurrently with the discharge of-thepfruitthere- 5 from' maybe blown aside, thewrappers being designated 39 and the fruit 40 1 The fruit 40 is adapted to be discharged i into a 'hopp er= 41 upon a frame 42 having transverse'members 43, there being upon said frame topsupporting members 44 and above these are the side members 38 upon which the base for the motor 35.and'blower'36 are situated. j Y

Each of the slats 18fat spaced intervals is "provided with awire member or other'suitable barb, designated 45; This member has a body section 46 adapted to extend aboutaslat 18, the ends47"being first twisted about themselves as shown' in 48,so that there is which will snag pa er but'will not damage the fruit. No regu arity in' the position of the barb 45in respect to the slats18 is 118085,.

sary, and a relatively 'few'jthereof are re quired as is indicated in both Figures 1 and 2; Any-staggered or, symmetrical arrange v fjbunches'eachindividual fruit being wrapped Extending to the right ofFigures 1' and 2 is in paper'asherein'above stated. The fruit inder is rotated. by the prime mover, not shown, which prime mover, throughthe gears described, rotatestheguide'pulleys 15 which angle rather thanin alignment ;withthe inltum engage the s 1 "of the cylin- (1612". l

l e As the rotation continues, thefruittravels the length of the cylinder'and is discharged therefrom through the mouth 20;- During its -fal.ls irom the hopper 29 into-the cylinder a 'comprising themember 17 18'and 19, in which memberit isadapted tobe rolled as the cylfruit without theaid ofth'e'barb; But before the fruit. may travel thei fullrlength of the cylinder, in every instance, the paper is loosened-therefromiand is separated from the fruit. Some of the paper adheres to the herbs 45 but this, does not render the 7 device inefl'ective for the constant agitation going on in the cylinder eventually loosens all papters which temporarily adhere to such ar s. a

The paper wrappers eventually :work' out throughthe mouth 20 wherethe blower 36 driving a blast of air directly across the mouthof the cylinder,-blows such paper to one side allowing the fruit 40 to run through hopper 41 free from paper tov such other treating device as may be associated with hopper 41 Inthis way an automatic'iremoval of wrapping paper isobtained, it being; necessaryonly to feed thefruit into the hopper-29.: The quantity so fed need not be carefully regulated for all the fruit, because it is slowly carried through the cylinder, will be freed from the paper before th i t 2O is-reached. f

Whenever fruit 1s mentioned, unless,=.the context forbids, vegetable or I other wrapped articles are included, and of course paper includes any form of sheet wrapping material.

I claim:

'1. Fruit unwrapping means comprising a cylindrical drum, a'plurality of barbs upon the walls of said drum, a loading hopper at one end thereof and partially blocking the said end, and means for-rotating said drum.

2'; Fruit'wrapper removing means comprising a drum, barbs upon said drum, a

loading hopper for said drum and closing one end of said drum, the other end of said its dlfllm being free from obstiuction, and a blower in juxtaposition to the latter end.

3. Fruit wra per removing means com-' prising a drum, arbs upon said drum, a loading hopper for said drum and partially blocking one end thereof, the other end being unobstructed," and means for removing the wrapper when separated from the fruit by said barbs and drum.

' WILLIAM D. BOST. 

